Religious old women always spun stories of devils luring poor, naive maidens with a seductive gaze and silver tongue. Despite their old-fashioned nature, their predictability had their charm. A tall, dark, and handsome stranger always came a'creeping down a dark alleyway looking to eat your heart. The maiden would be tempted, but at the last second she would always escape with a lesson learned.
Still Ray had always found herself unlike those maidens in the stories. She was brave. She was wise. She was a worldly modern gal who would spot a devil before he could even think of touching her heart.
But oh, she had fallen all the same. Down, down, down into the pit itself. She had never expected to find a devil in the bashful but ambitious duelist looking to make his mark on the world. He had not seduced her, but regaled her with stories of monsters and their voices Father was certain she was only mistaken to be hearing.
None of that matter though. The world was nothing but smoke and ash, the remnants of useless memories that will solve nothing now. No there was only one way for things to end at this point.
Pumping her legs as hard as she could, Ray reached the top of a building that thing was passing by.
"Zarc!" She screamed with all her might, "What the fuck are you doing!?" It's only at her words did those red eyes finally meet hers. As full as they were, a vile mixture of rage and blood-lust, a shadow of recognition passed over them.
"Ah Ray," His words came out twisted and cruel and nothing like the way he used to say her name. "Have you come to worship your new-found god?" He basked in his full horror, impossibly dark scales covering the entity of his body as draconic wings burst from his spine.
"You're no god," She snarled. "I know the man that lives inside of you, and I demand he speak to me right now!" It was a crazy plan, even for her. She was more likely to be disintegrated with a wave of his hand, but there was no other option besides this. All she could do was pray that whatever higher power remained would give her one last miracle.
Whether her prayers reached any destination or she simply got lucky, he ended up complying. As the monster of a dragon approached her rooftop, Zarc began to form equally scaly legs until he was able to walk and meet her on the rooftop right there.
"I see you needed a closer look at me in my full power. Now are you ready to get down on your knees?" He flashed a smile like he used to always after winning a duel. It was a smile she had treasured deep in her heart before everything had gone wrong, before her duelist had begun to fight for violence's sake and violence's sake only.
"Why are you doing this?" She didn't even try to hide the way her voice cracked. "Why are you hurting your dragons so? They're not angry, Zarc. You can hear them just as well. They're tired, in pain, and scared."
"They're my servants. Their wants hardly matter in the grand scheme of things. I did as everyone wanted. I achieved a power so great, you could never comprehend it." His presence seemed to only grow and grow in strength, sending shivers down her spin. Damn it, even separated from that beast, he was still as invincible as before. Ray took a deep breath. Didn't matter, she just had to keep going.
"What did you want Zarc? Did you want destruction? A man I used to know only wanted to entertain the crowd. Where is he?"
"He's dead. I sacrificed him a long time ago to get to where I am today. He was holding me back, just as you are," He stalked closer and closer to her, like a predator on the prowl. Every instinct in her body screamed to run, but she willed herself to stay.
"You're nothing but a baby throwing a tantrum then. Look in your heart, it knows what you truly want-"
"It's nothing but a stupid, useless thing that has only ever wanted foolish things like you!"
Ray had prepared for many of things, but never had she imagined a confession like that. Even when things had been ok, and they had shared blushes and quiet laughter, she had buried that possibility into the deepest, darkest recesses of her soul. But now there was no denying it anymore for either of them.
"I want you," He gazed at her with half-lidded eyes, and despite herself, her body ignited under their intensity. What distant they used to hold didn't exist anymore. "I want you more than anything else, but I'm not good enough for someone as perfect as you. I was able to ignore my want whenever I dueled, but there's no one left who can satisfy me anymore. I hate that I want you. I hate that there's nothing worthwhile left in this world for me. I hate it so much, I'll be glad to see it all burn to the ground!"
And that's when the plan went sideways, mixed with too many conflicting emotions for her to come to grip with. The next thing she knew she wrapped her arms around him as she tucked her head in the crook of his neck.
"I never wanted you like this, Zarc. I wanted you too, but never like this." She was caught somewhere between cursing him and crying for him. She could see the man beneath his exterior, and despite how stupid and dangerous it was, she couldn't help but love him still.
"Then why did you leave me?" He threaded a clawed hand through her hair with a surprising amount of gentleness. "I had finally won over the crowd. Everyone loved me, but for some reason you were angry with me, and I didn't know why."
Ray had to hold back from laughing. This was like a fucking tragedy those Greeks loved. It had never occurred to her that he hadn't understood the full consequences of his actions. She had thought he had intentionally attacked the duelist the first time, and so she had cut off all contact with him. She knew it wasn't her fault the Zarc did what he did, but she couldn't help but feel she made a bad situation worse.
"I thought if you willingly hurt other duelists, you'd hurt me as well," It's the best way she can explain this mess.
"I don't want to hurt you. I've never wanted to." It's so hypocritical coming from the Devil himself, but she couldn't help but believe his words anyway. She knew she was following those devil stories to the letter, but a devil couldn't hold her as gently as he did now. She should probably have burned for these feelings, but the fire was too tempting.
"Is it still possible for us to fix things?" She whispered against his shoulder. "Can we stop this destruction, and just start over?" There was hardly anything left to rebuild with, but she wanted to hope no matter how foolish it was.
"I will protect you, Ray. I promise," He tilted her head up to look her in the eye as he traced the outline of her face. "I'll share my power with you. You'll become my goddess." Slowly his hands moved down to grip her waist suggestively. "We'll destroy this old world together and create a paradise just for the two of us."
And just like that, Ray finally snapped out of her delusions. There was no saving him. No matter how much she wished, he had made his decision to destroy the world. There really was only one ending for the two of them.
Slowly Ray reached for the pouch around her leg, careful not to alert Zarc.
"You'd really do that?" She smiled as sweetly as could and leaned in closer. "All for some ordinary girl like me?"
"Ray, I adore you If you'll let me, I'll make you mine."
She kissed him instead of answering. It was dark and all-consuming, but she couldn't help but enjoy it anyway. Still she did not forget those devil stories this time. She would finally put those lessons to good use.
While he was distracted, she placed the four cards against his back. Once they contacted the scales, bursts of energy began to radiate off him, growing stronger and stronger with every pulse.
Zarc howled with pain at the sensation. The claws that had so tenderly touched her before began to dig into her skin, but still Ray would not let go of him.
"You want to be the Devil?' Purple eyes blazing with emotion, "Then I'll drag you down to hell myself. You can have me all you want, but neither of us will ever escape until the end of time itself!" For all the power he amassed, it would only fuel the methods of his downfall.
"Why?! Why would you do this to me, Ray?!" Zarc roared, but not even that couldn't wipe the smile off Ray's face.
"If you're going to destroy this world, then you might as well help in the creation of four others," Already she could feel the effects of Father's cards draining her. Being this close to Zarc meant she would also be split into quarters as well, but she had already come to terms with her decision. "Besides Zarc, I still love you despite everything. I hope in another life, we can become friends again. Maybe there we can avoid making mistakes we shouldn't have. Maybe if we fall in love, we'll do it right this time."
She could feel the last dregs of life leaving her body. Even Zarc was being affected now, no longer struggling to escape their embrace. In a few seconds, they would be no more.
Ray couldn't help but catch one last glimpse of the outside world. Even as it was beginning to unravel at the seams, it was as beautiful as always.
Father, forgive me for breaking my promise.
With that last thought, Ray fell unconscious as the world exploded into a gorgeous mess.
A.N. I have no other explanation for this besides Dead Girl Walking Reprise is a perfect song. Go listen to it right now